


At the Docks

by aurilly



Category: Lost
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-06
Updated: 2009-05-06
Packaged: 2017-10-03 00:43:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurilly/pseuds/aurilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An alternate ending to the dock scene season 5. After they both storm off from the others, Sayid gets in Kate's car instead of going for scotch.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At the Docks

Kate has already put Aaron in the back of her car by the time Sayid realizes that he cannot remain in this place for a second longer.

"If I ever see you again, it will be very unpleasant for us all." He leaves the monstrous, the misguided, and the incomprehensible standing there to sort their own business out. It is no longer his problem. Sayid runs toward Kate's car. Through the glass, he can see her about to turn the key in the ignition. Resting his hands on the driver's side window, Sayid gazes pleadingly at her.

She pauses for a second. He knows what this must have looked like to her, arriving to find him standing placidly alongside Ben and her other tormenters. Her outrage is, quite deservedly, as great as his. But it cannot, should not, be directed at him, and if she thinks about it, she has to realize that appearances were deceiving. Rolling down the window, she snits, "What?"

The tone of her voice confirms that she still believes him to be complicit, so he uses his more diplomatic mien as he explains, "I want no part of this. I was manipulated and brought here against my will, just like you."

Kate contemplates, but not for long, because, just as he expects her to do, she remembers that Sayid has never let her down before. Too late, she realizes that _he_ was always the one on her side, not Jack. It always Sayid making sure she was safe, Sayid who never wavered between something he wanted and something she needed, Sayid who never expected anything in return. It is silly to think he could be working in concert against her, silly to have been so wrong about him, even for a moment.

"Get in," she says, and it's more than an invitation into her vehicle. It's the beginning of something that should have been from the beginning, something that got interrupted, shaken off track when they became distracted by other entanglements.

Sayid walks around the front of the car and gets into the passenger seat. He can feel the fumes of anger emanating from both of them and filling the car, but it is not anger directed at one another. Rather, they are both stewing separately, but together.

"Is there anywhere you need to go?" Kate asks a minute later when they're back on a road. She waits for an answer. In her mind, Sayid has always known where he needs to go. He's always had direction, a plan. For that reason, his response startles her.

"No, my living quarters have been compromised, so I'm free to go wherever you choose to take me." The flat, hollow resignation than in recent weeks has become so familiar to him frightens Kate. It reminds her that two years have elapsed since they last saw one another, and she can't begin to imagine what could have happened to change him like that. Not even three months of insanity on the island did this to him.

"What do you mean 'compromised'?" she asks.

He turns to look at her, wondering what could have brought her here if not something related to the events of the previous night. "No doubt you heard what happened to Hurley today?"

Kate gasps as a flash of understanding overtakes her. "_You_…" She glances into the rearview mirror at Aaron, who is looking curiously at her and this stranger in the car with them. Lowering her voice to a whisper, she finishes, "You did… _that_?"

Sayid nods grimly. "Hurley was in danger. He was being watched by assassins. So I removed him from Santa Rosa. I was taking him to my safe house, but we were intercepted. Judging from what you and I just witnessed, I would say they were Ben's people, trying to take us back to the island by force."

"What a mess," Kate opines, leaning her head against the window as she takes it all in. Their lives since returning from the island have always been precarious, a delicately constructed web built out of flimsy materials. Jack and Hurley had fallen apart on their own; they'd always needed a more truthful, solid base to survive, but now it's coming for the more morally grey Kate and Sayid, too.

"Mommy? Who's this man?" Aaron interrupts.

Looking at him via the mirror, Kate answers sweetly, "This is an old friend of mine. His name is Sayid. He knew you when you were a little baby…" Kate trails off as she remembers the story she'd heard of Sayid and Charlie rescuing Aaron from Rousseau the night they opened the hatch. After three years of being the little boy's mother, it is hard for her to remember a time when he was her last priority, a time when she was too busy with other things to know what was going on with him. But Kate doesn't like thinking about those times; it only reminds her that Aaron isn't technically hers.

As Kate drives, Sayid swivels in his seat to look at Aaron. Leaning into the space between the two front seats, he hesitantly tries to shake hands with the toddler. Watching him out of the corner of her eye, Kate smiles. She has seen Sayid excel at many things, but she now realizes that she's never seen him interact with a child before. Perhaps this is the one thing he _isn't_ good at. But then again, Kate never thought she would be good with children until she had Aaron, so who knows?

"Hello, Aaron. I have not seen you in a long time. You have grown very big," he says, and it's the closest to shy Kate has ever heard his voice sound.

"You talk funny," Aaron says.

"So do you." Sayid chuckles and the fumes of anger swirling around the car dissipate as he faces forward again. Now, it's easier to make decisions and draw lines of loyalty.

"You know can stay with me for as long as you need to," Kate says, but they both know that it already went without saying. It's like the island again---time to hunker down together while being attacked by Ben's minions. The only difference is that it's more complicated now, bridging normality with the uncontrollable strangeness of the island; instead of whispers in the woods, there are lawyers and SUVs.

"Thank you, Kate," he says. "42 Plainview Road?"

Kate looks at him quizzically. "How did you know that?"

Sayid has gathered by now that she knows little of the events of the day that hadn't directly concerned her. It's a startling change from the Kate he used to know; she had always been in the thick of things. So he matter-of-factly whispers, "A man who tried to k-i-l-l me earlier today was carrying that address around in his pocket. Jack recognized it as yours."

"Oh." There were more people involved than she'd realized, and they all seemed to have different motivations, it seemed. Except for her… and except for Sayid, apparently. "Does that mean my house is compromised, too?"

"Not now that they know the two of us are ready for anything." Sayid smiles at her, and underneath her un-Kate-like pounds of makeup, he can see that old flash, that old tomboy-ish daring light up her face. Thank goodness.

"Mommy, I'm thirsty," Aaron piped up from the back seat.

"There's a juice box at your feet, sweetie," Kate replies.

Sayid turns to look at her appreciatively, as if seeing her in a whole new light. They both know what he's thinking: that she has grown, changed, matured from the flighty fugitive Sayid had known on the island, from the skittery convict she had been the last time they had seen one another, almost two years ago before he'd gone to Iraq for Nadia's funeral and his life had gone into a tailspin.

"It's been a long time, Kate," Sayid says slowly.

"You're the one who disappeared," Kate challenges. "Where've you been?"

"The answer is not appropriate for innocent ears." And that's more than enough to make it clear.

They pull into her driveway and Sayid tries to help by going to take Aaron out of the back seat. Kate laughs at him with a twitch of her nose.

"Thanks," she says as she opens the door to let them in. She's moved since Sayid last saw her. The house is nice---perfectly nice---but it lacks any personality or whimsy. It smells of cleanliness and stability.

"Do you like it here?" he asks.

She knows what he means. "Jack picked it out. Said it was the best value for the money and close to a good school district that Aaron will need in a few years. He was right but I… I hate it."

Aaron ignores them, and Kate realizes that he's taking advantage of the rare fact that Kate is distracted by company to try to smuggle his juice box with him upstairs. "Oh no you don't," she chides as she sweeps him up into her arms.

Aaron laughs, and the sound is eerily reminiscent of Claire's laugh, but Sayid knows better than to say anything. He wonders if Kate sees it, too. Judging by the way she closes her eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath, he has a feeling she does.

"You go brush your teeth and get in bed, ok?" she instructs, and sends him upstairs with a fond pat on the bottom.

Kate beckons Sayid to the kitchen, where she pulls out some leftovers to begin warming up.

"You look like you need a drink," she observes.

Sayid leans against one of the countertops. "So do you."

Kate starts pouring him some scotch. Sayid can't remember how she knows that he likes that. Although they'd spent a significant amount of time together in LA---Nadia had been quite enamored of baby Aaron---those encounters were now a blur. All he ever thought of when he imagined Kate was curly hair flying in the wind, dirty tank tops, and oft-used water bottles. The epitome of sobriety.

"So, what were you doing?" she repeats.

"Killing people on a list. For Ben. It was a mistake. A manipulation. A nightmare."

Kate blanches and presses her fists into the counter, too surprised to drink. "_You?_ Working for _Ben_? Of all of us, I never thought you would end up…" She can't even finish. It's as if she's looking at two Sayid's, the one she knows and a bizarro one, and she can't reconcile the two. "Guess I was wrong."

He knows that she's simply reacting, that she doesn't mean to be cruel, but it cuts him worse than any of the bullets he's ever taken. She's right, too. He remembers, years ago, equating working with Ben to selling one's soul. The emptiness that has lived inside him for so long proves him right.

She sees that she's hurt him and comes to stand near him. Clutching his arm and lowering the crown of her head into his shoulder she apologizes, "I'm sorry. I didn't meant to make you feel… I'm sure you already…"

He cuts her off. He doesn't want pity or apologies. He wants to feel as badly as he knows he should. "Don't. It's fine."

They stand in silence for a few minutes until he asks, "You can't leave the state, but tomorrow we should go somewhere more incognito, at least for a few days until we can ascertain what it is they want and what the danger is. We cannot let Ben take Aaron from you. He won't betray you to the government, but if Aaron is what he's after, he might find another way."

She nods, taking it all in. And so it begins. Again. But not right away. Sliding her hand down his arm, she interlaces their fingers together.

"You're right. Tomorrow. But now, do you know what I think you should do?" There's something mischievous and sweet in her voice, and Sayid has no idea what to expect.

"What?"

"I want you to read a story to Aaron. He likes accents. I can tell he likes yours. Otherwise he wouldn't have commented on it. Come on. How do you feel about Hop on Pop?"

Sayid stiffens. This is almost scarier than assassins in the hospital room. "I have never read to children before. I don't think I am qualified---"

"You'll do fine."


End file.
